Spider Force: Beginnings
by Darkness593
Summary: The start of an OC driven project. If you would like to be involved, read to the end to find out how.
1. Chapter 1

**An important note that I will bring up again at the end; DON'T EXPECT ME TO WRITE EVERYTHING IN THIS STORY! It is OC driven and therefore needs all of the characters' creators involved. How to get your OC in and how to get involved will be at the end. If you haven't read Crimson Web, please do that before continuing.**

 **...**

 **Beginnings: Chapter 1: Crimson Web VS. Spider Warrior**

It was an astonishingly dull morning in New York, so Crimson Web decided to do something productive, besides fighting crime, by doing inventory on the various mystical items within the Sanctum Sanctorum. Doctor Strange had given him a tour of the Sanctum when he agreed to allow the Sorcerer Supreme to study the magic that flowed through his veins. The more time he spent there, the more he learned about the Sanctum itself. He learned fairly quickly that most mystical items had wills of their own, along with a sense of humor. Strange told him that it was best to play along, as the items were just trying to incite a reaction out of him. He had to learn that lesson the hard way, as a particularly annoying trinket kept duplicating itself every time he tried to count it.

Taking a break from inventory, Crimson decided to check on Temper. She had been at the Sanctum longer than him, and was more mature than she let on, but she was still a child, _his_ child, and he couldn't help but be worried about her. He checked the sitting room, Strange had a different name for it, but it was a room with chairs and little else, as far as Crimson was concerned, it was a sitting room. Temper was nowhere to be seen, so he decided to check the kitchen. Temper always seemed to be curious whenever any of them cooked, and Wong had said something earlier about marinating meat for dinner. Wong wasn't in the kitchen, but Temper was. She noticed him at once and he wasn't at all surprised to find one of her Klyntar tentacles protruding from her back and wrapping around a piece of meat. Crimson figured that Temper being half Klyntar was the reason she could eat raw meat without getting sick, since she certainly didn't get it from her human half. She stared at him for a second before shoving the meat in her mouth, swallowing it whole. She stepped away from the counter and started to leave, but Crimson blocked her path.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Crimson asked.

Temper pouted a bit, but turned back around and made her way to the sink to wash her tentacle and her face. When she was done, she retracted her tentacle and left the kitchen. She didn't need to wash up, as her Klyntar cells dealt with any harmful bacteria, but Crimson had to make sure she followed human etiquette, since she was living on Earth.

As Temper rounded a corner, a crash came from downstairs. Strange was out helping the Avengers and Wong was out gathering supplies they had run out of, which could only mean that they had an uninvited guest. Crimson stalked towards the stairs and grabbed the banister. He brought himself up and lowered himself down the other side, grabbing onto the wall and pulling himself onto the ceiling of the floor below. He knew that he would have stealth on his side, due to black being the primary color of his costume, but he didn't know who the intruder was, so he couldn't recklessly turn off the lights, after all, they could be wearing black as well. He crawled along the ceiling, keeping his wits about him, and took note of where in the Sanctum he was. This hall was charmed so that if one light went out, they all would. It was both convenient and a security measure, as if anyone besides Strange or Wong turns off the lights, the whole room goes into a mystical lock down, keeping any intruders trapped. When he finally found the intruder, he assessed them from a distance.

The figure was unmistakably female. She wore armor that was sea foam green in most areas and white in others. the protective suit beneath was light red. The insignia on her armor was either a star or a spider, either way, this person was dangerous. The bright colors of her armor meant that stealth wasn't an option, giving Crimson an immediate advantage.

Crimson lowered down on a web line and extinguished a candle with his fingers, subconsciously thanking the Kree for making their gloves fireproof and insulated, and at once, the room was plunged into darkness, save for the faint glow of a mystical force field trapping the pair inside. Crimson returned to the ceiling as the intruder looked around, trying to figure out what happened. Crimson's eyes adjusted to the dark fairly quickly and he watched as the intruder took a fighting stance, waiting for something to attack her. Of course, Crimson wasn't an idiot, he didn't know how strong she was, so he wouldn't risk a frontal attack. Instead, he decided to give himself the home field advantage. He shot web lines at various angles from different positions, the intruder reacting to the noises readily, until web lines connected the ceiling to the floor, the walls to each other, the walls to the ceiling and the walls to the floor, making attacks from any direction possible. Now that he was ready, he shot a web line at the intruder, who readily grabbed it and pulled. Crimson let go of the web and used his hands to propel himself off the ground and over the intruder, grabbing a web line behind her to turn himself around and strike her in the back. She lurched forward from the strike and hit a web line, getting stuck. Crimson dove in for another strike, underestimating his opponent's recovery time. She launched herself off the ground, using the web line to arc herself up, kicking Crimson's jaw with the back of her heel. Crimson was hurled back by the kick, using it as a means to retreat to the ceiling, grabbing two web lines as a slingshot to get back up.

It was then that he noticed time slow down. He looked around for the intruder, turning around to find her fist a fraction of an inch from his face. _She's fast!_ Crimson thought as scurried down so her punch narrowly missed. Her fist went clean through the wall, receiving a shock from the force field on the other side. _Strong too! Definitely a Spider._ She recovered from the shock turned to attack again. If it wasn't for his Temporal Displacement, Crimson would have been overwhelmed. She wouldn't give him any openings, so he had to stay on defense, dodging and countering, but never blocking, he did NOT want to be on the receiving end of her punch. Due to the minimal lighting in the room, as well as the stamina most Spider's are known for, it was nearly impossible to tell how long the two had been fighting, but it came to an abrupt conclusion. The lights in the room turned back on and both combatants arms and legs became ensnared in mystical bands. Time finally returned to normal as Strange made his presence known.

"You should know better than to attack an opponent without reason Crimson," Strange scolded his pseudo-apprentice, "But I suppose I'm to blame as well as I didn't inform you that Spider Warrior was coming. That said, Crimson Web, meet Spider Warrior. Spider Warrior, Crimson Web."

"I've heard of you," Spider Warrior stated, "I'm not that impressed."

"Bite me," Crimson responded.

"Spider Warrior is an Avenger in training," Strange continued as though the exchange hadn't happened, "And we've been considering bringing you together."

"WHAT!?" both Spiders snapped.

"Not just you two," the doctor continued, "there are more Spiders out there than either of you think. We think forming a team with them might be beneficial. Follow me," Strange released the bands, "the rest will be explained at Avengers headquarters."

 **...**

 **I'll leave it at that. Now, if you would like to get involved, here is how. Simply answer these seven questions, then make a backstory to go along with them.**

 **Question 1: How do you get your powers?**

 **a. Radioactive Spider Bite**

 **b. Magical Spider Bite**

 **c. Chosen warrior of a Spider God/Cult**

 **d. Voluntarily took experimental serum derived from Spider Venom**

 **e. None of the above/the suit mimics the powers**

 **Question 2: Why do you fight?**

 **a. Personal reasons. (Street level Spider)**

 **b. To keep criminals in line. (S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent)**

 **c. To ensure the safety of the world. (Avenger Recruit)**

 **d. Mutant equality. (X-Men Trainee)**

 **e. For the Synoptic to rule. (Symbiote)**

 **f. To control the world through technology. (A.I.M. Soldier)**

 **g. To clench the world's government in HYDRA's mighty grip. (HYDRA Agent)**

 **h. Mutant Supremacy. (Brotherhood of Mutants)**

 **Question 3: How does your webbing work?**

 **a. Web-shooters.**

 **b. Organic**

 **c. I can't shoot webs, but my suit comes equipped with Web Wings so I can glide**

 **Question 4: What is kind of suit do you have?**

 **a. Spandex. (Standard Spider Costume)**

 **b. Armor. (Either Stark or a God is playing favorites)**

 **c. Symbiote (Not all Klyntar are evil)**

 **d. Just some normal clothes and accessories dyed in my color scheme. (Basically a homemade suit)**

 **Question 5: Which Hero, outside of your affiliation group, are you affiliated with?**

 **Note: Since we are Spiders, we would be affiliated with other Spiders.**

 **Question 6: What is your color scheme?(Primary/Secondary/Tertiary(optional))**

 **Final Question: Name(costumed identity) and Alias(secret identity)?**

 **There are four confirmed Spiders so far. Their answers are as follows:**

 **Crimson Web**

 **Q1: b. Magical Spider Bite.**

 **Q2: a. Personal Reasons.**

 **Q3: b. Organic Webbing.**

 **Q4: a. Spandex, formerly c. Symbiote.**

 **Q5: Doctor Strange**

 **Q6: Primary: Black/ Red/ Maroon.**

 **Final Question: Crimson Web/Chris Blake.**

 **Spider Warrior**

 **Q1: c. Chosen warrior of a Spider God**

 **Q2: c. To ensure the safety of the world**

 **Q3: b. Organic**

 **Q4: b. Armor**

 **Q5: Daredevil**

 **Q6: Sea Foam Green/ White/ Light Red**

 **Q7: Spider Warrior/ Blazen Hope Kelly**

 **Revenant Spider**

 **Q1: e. Suit mimics the powers**

 **Q2: a. Personal reasons**

 **Q3: b. Oganic**

 **Q4: c. Symbiote**

 **Q5: Squirrel Girl**

 **Q6: Black/ Purple/ white**

 **Q7: Revenant Spider/ Joseph Sanders**

 **Diamond Spider**

 **Q1: e. None of the above**

 **Q2: a. Personal Reasons**

 **Q3: c. No webbing, Suit equipped with Web Wings**

 **Q4: b. Armor**

 **Q5: Thor**

 **Q6: Silver/ Gold/ Black**

 **Q7: Diamond Spider/ Luna Lulamoon**

 **If you want, you can post your answers in a review here and I will design your Spider for you(be sure to include "under the mask" details, like hair and eye color) and PM you when it is done and up on my DeviantArt page. no payment is required, making a big project like this is all the satisfaction I need. I look forward to working with you all.**

 **Outside of an introductory chapter for your Spider, any additions you make to this must have the title "Spider Force", the subtitle is completely up to you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Many thanks to Noble Six and others for helping to expand this project.**

 **...**

Strange led the pair of Spiders through Avengers HQ, with Temper bringing up the rear, as Crimson wasn't about to leave her on her own. Every so often, he would look back to make sure she was still there. She seemed to be brimming with confidence, even using her Klyntar abilities to create her own suit. It was similar enough to Crimson's, except for the fact that she only made a face mask and turned her hair completely red to make up for the lack of a web scarf. Crimson didn't know why, but Temper seemed to have trouble with scarves.

"I never pegged you for a father," Spider Warrior commented after noticing the frequency of Crimson's glances, "you just don't seem the type."

"Just because I don't seem the type doesn't mean I'm not," Crimson stated, "sometimes, you don't have time to change, and just have to adjust, you know?"

"I suppose."

The group stopped before a large door, clearly meant to accommodate the Hulk, or at least a Hulk-Buster. The door opened and Crimson was taken aback. Sure, he had fought beside the Avengers when he was fourteen, but that was a war zone, he had no time to consider what was happening, also, having Frenzy in control at the time didn't really allow him to look around. Now, he stood before the Avengers with no immediate threat. He could feel his nerves building. He hadn't realized that he lost all feeling in his legs until Temper tried to push him in, only to have him fall over. He stumbled a bit, but caught himself before he hit the floor. He stood back up and slapped his leg to get the blood flowing again. He then looked around and only then noticed the other Spiders in the room.

One was a girl wearing silver and gold armor. It didn't take Crimson too long to figure out the armor was to make up for the fact that she had no powers, unlike Spider Warrior, whose reason for wearing armor was yet to be revealed. The other was a relatively buff man, clearly the oldest of the Spiders, in terms of age, much less experience. Crimson hoped that his mask hid his glare as he quickly identified the man's suit as a Symbiote. Every Klyntar he saw, with the exception of Temper, only served to remind him that Frenzy was gone. He didn't hate them, he just hated that he had to lose his.

"Crimson," Captain America greeted him, "I'm glad you could join us again."

"Again?" the girl in silver and gold armor asked.

"Long story," Crimson stated, joining the group, "so who are these two?"

"Diamond Spider," Cap gestured to the girl in the armor, "And Revenant Spider."

The man with the Symbiote offered his hand, but Crimson ignored it. True, it was rude, but Crimson knew that Klyntar could tell when someone was once a host if they make physical contact. He wasn't ready to let them know, after all, he barely knew them.

"Why am I here?" Crimson asked, showing that his time in space had all but killed the optimistic, fun loving persona of his youth.

"An old friend of yours has come back," Cap explained as a picture of a stout man with a goofy grin, which Crimson always found uncomfortable, appeared from the hologram projector, "The Fanatic. He caused some problems, causing Spider-Man to jump into action. Two other Spiders joined him... we lost all contact with the three of them last week."

"Who went with him?" Crimson asked.

"Spider-Girl," Cap took a deep breath before saying the second name," and Cobalt Web."

"WHAT!?" Crimson slammed his fist on the table, denting it, "YOU LET MY SISTER GO AFTER THAT MANIAC, KNOWING HOW DANGEROUS HE IS!?"

"We couldn't stop her," Cap explained, "she's as stubborn as you."

"Where were they last seen?"

"Revenant can take you there. You'll need these three."

"I can handle Fanatic on my own, just point me in the right direction."

"We can't let you go alone," Revenant kept him from turning to leave, "You're unstable, we can't risk you killing him."

"Why not?"

"Because he may hold a clue towards the location of _my_ target."

"I'll leave him alive."

"And I'll make sure you do."

"That's enough," Spider Warrior caught their attention, "We're going together. Crimson knows Fanatic better than any of us, so I feel he should lead. not to mention, he has more experience than the rest of us, though he only outclasses me by a year."

The Avengers and Spiders look to Crimson, waiting for his opinion. Crimson simply pushes Revenant out of the way.

"Do what you want. I'm getting my sister out of there."

The Spiders look to Strange, hoping to get an explanation. The door closed behind Crimson, keeping him from hearing Strange's explanation.

 **...**

Crimson sat on the underside of one of the Chrysler Buildings outcroppings. Whether they were gargoyles or eagles, Crimson didn't know or care. He looked over the inverted skyline of Manhattan, wondering if his sister had forgiven him for bonding with Frenzy after getting his powers. Frenzy had always been a point of conflict between the two, though Crimson could only assume that it was because his sister always hated slimy things. Now that he had a chance to clear his head, he couldn't help but admit that he would need help against Fanatic. Every time they fought, Crimson barely escaped with his life, and that was _with_ Frenzy. what chance did he stand without her? Crimson sighed and removed his mask. Chris looked into the lenses for a few minutes before putting it back and making his way back to Avengers HQ.


	3. Chapter 3

"So," Crimson announced his return to Avengers HQ, "What info do you have on the missing Spiders?"

"Are you going to accept our help?" Revenant asked.

"If you can keep up." Crimson shot back, earning a sigh from the Symbiote clad Spider.

"Right," Revenant activated the Hologram projector, which showed a map of Manhattan, "they were last seen on Liberty Island."

"Yeah," Crimson sighed as the beacon appeared by the at the base of the Statue of Liberty, "that makes sense."

"Why?" Spider Warrior asked.

"Fanatic is basically a fan-boy gone mad," Crimson explained, "he's a big fan of confrontations at famous landmarks. I still remember confronting him on top of CN Tower."

"That was you?" Diamond asked, "I saw that on the news. I thought it was Spider-Man."

"When has Spidey ever been to Canada? more specifically Toronto?"

Diamond backed off, clearly trying to remember any news reports of Spider-Man in other countries.

"If we're going to Liberty Island," Crimson continued, "we need to go in our civvies, which means we should probably introduce ourselves properly." Crimson removed his mask without hesitation, "I'm Chris Blake."

Warrior followed his lead, taking off her helmet, "Blazen Hope Kelly," she looked directly at Chris, "You can call me Hope."

"Luna Lulamoon," Diamond said, taking off her helmet to reveal pink hair in braided pigtails, earning a snicker from Chris.

The three turned to Revenant, waiting for him to follow suit. He sighed and conceded.

"All right," his mask retracted, "My name is Joseph Sanders."

"Nice to meet you all," Crimson snickered, still not over Luna's appearance, "now that that's out of the way, let's get changed." Crimson turned to leave, "Come on Joe," he called back, "Let's give the girls some privacy." He then spotted Temper in the corner and quickly detoured to her, kneeling in front of her so he was at eye level as her mask retracted and her hair returned to its mostly black coloring, "I want you to stay here, where it's safe, ok? I'm going to find your aunt."

Temper wanted to pout, but knew by the tone of her father's voice that this was more serious than she could possibly comprehend. She caught him off guard with a worried hug and ran off to find Doctor Strange.

 **...**

Chris mainly kept to himself on the ferry, choosing to stay separate from the others until they arrived at Liberty Island. As the group got off with the civilians, Chris looked up at the statue. This was his first time seeing it through his own eyes, as the last time he was in New York, Frenzy impaled a Skrull against Lady Liberty. Even from the ground, he could see the hole, as small as it was. He shook his head to bring his focus back to the present, to his sister.

"Spread out," Crimson ordered, "Fanatic may be crazy, but he has a method to his madness. I'm his sole focus, and it's not exactly a secret that Cobalt and I are siblings. If he's captured her, then he wants my attention. Look for anything that could be seen as a clue."

The quartet split up, though they remained close enough to maintain visual contact with each other. Chris started by examining the ground, hoping that Damage Control would've at least left something for rescue teams to investigate. As usual, they were thorough. Chris sighed and looked to the others, primarily Hope. He didn't know why, but her scarlet hair reminded him of Frenzy, more specifically, the humanoid form she took when they were alone. Hope caught his gaze and he quickly looked away. It was then that he noticed some oddly shaped shrubbery.

"Guys?" He called out as he approached, "I think I have something."

The other three converged on Chris as he moved the leaves and branches that obscured his view. He let out an exasperated sigh when he saw what was there.

"What is it?" Joseph asked.

"A Doom-bot," Chris explained as he picked up the busted robot, "I should've seen this coming." He didn't need to look back to know that the others were giving him confused looks, "Fanatic has, let's call it a "business agreement", with Doctor Doom. Doom sends Fanatic these Doom-bots to do with as he pleases and Fanatic, in return, shares his twisted views with Doom in order to give Doom ideas for conquering in a way that gets the most attention."

"But why would Doom want attention?" Luna asked, "Wouldn't that make accomplishing his goals harder?"

"He want's it because he wants the world to know who rules over them, and how he did it." Chris threw the Doom-bot down, breaking it's already busted shell, "Let's keep looking, there's bound to be something else. and keep your wits about you, Fanatic's not above traps."

As if on cue, time slowed down. Chris looked around at the near frozen civilians, expecting any of them to be a Doom-bot in disguise, then he felt the breeze. He removed his civvies to reveal his costume hiding beneath, thanking any deities or mystical presences watching over him that he currently moving too fast for the human eye to comprehend. As soon as he had his mask on, he turned around to see the base of the statue cracking, then the shock wave hit. He braced himself on the ground as the wave passed over him. If there was anything he took to heart over the years, it was that the shock wave was always worse than the explosion when time was slowed. the ground started to shake as the wave passed and pieces of the base started to come off. He looked to the others, intending to get them out of the way first since they were the closest, but they were already out of the way. Joseph and Hope had already changed, giving Crimson an idea of just how fast they were, and Luna had clearly been shoved into a bush to change, which only served to show her lack of powers, proving why she had her armor. As the heat began to build, Crimson realized that the part of an explosion that even he was too slow to move through, when Temporal Displacement was active, was coming and he dove out of the way, taking some civilians with him. That was when the chaos began.

The explosion rocked the island, a second shock wave catching Crimson off guard and temporarily locking him out of his most useful ability. time resumed it's normal flow as the Lady Liberty started to fall. Crimson jumped up and started making preparations to save everyone, not even bothering to tell the others and just going off of blind hope that they got the idea. He started by webbing up the base so as to slow Lady Liberty's descent as much as he could. He then webbed up the surrounding area beyond the Statue's path and started chucking the civilians into his sticky cushions. For the children, however, he picked them up, as many as he could at a time, and brought them to their parents. He was so focused that he didn't even know if they were thanking him or trying to reprimand him for the way he was doing things. Slowly, but surely, visitors and tourists were placed out of danger, but banging from inside the Statue's base told Crimson that they were far from done. Crimson shot a web line at the visitor's entrance and yanked the door out of the wall.

"Move!" Crimson called, but no one moved.

Crimson looked around and realized why. His Temporal Displacement had finally kicked back in, and just in the nick of time too. The top half of the Statue was already in the water. Crimson looked up to see the rest of the Statue just inches above him. There was no time to move the civilians, even with his Displacement, he would kill the civilians before the Statue did. There was no other option, he raised his hands and placed them on the statue. Taking a deep breath, Crimson used the only spell that Starnge taught him. Time resumed it's normal flow as he siphoned his magic from his other powers and used every bit he could spare to bolster his strength. Dust engulfed the area as Lady Liberty's remaining weight crashed down on him. Pain seared through his body as it was pushed to it's limit. He closed his eyes, not letting any visuals distract him. If he broke focus for even an instant, his magic would return to it's designated roles and he would be crushed. Crimson let out pained gasping grunts as tha Statue only seemed to get heavier, letting him know that his stamina was dropping quickly. Every sound in the world then seemed to vanish as his heartbeat grew thunderous in his ears. It was then that he realized that his stamina had run dry and his body was about to give out.

'I'm sorry Arria,' Crimson sighed inwardly, or whimpered, it was irrelevant at this point, 'I guess seeing you again was just a stupid dream.'

All feeling in Crimson's body disappeared as his heart gave out to the strain.

 **...**

Crimson looked around, not sure if he was still alive, or if he had passed on. If it was the latter, then he was a little disappointed that his afterlife would be spent floating in cold, empty void. A loud BANG made him worry that he wasn't alone. Rather than pursue the noise, he chose to wait, see if it was just his imagination. Another BANG sounded, this one louder than the first. Then came another. The void flashed briefly when the fourth sounded. Same with the fifth. He felt a pang in his chest on the sixth. A more intense one on the seventh. Each BANG brought a more intense feeling, until the twentieth made his whole body sting. Then everything went white.

 **...**

Crimson sat up with a start, clutching his chest and gasping for air. He gripped the grass beneath him and gathered his composure. His gasping turned to deep breathing as he looked around to find the Avengers surrounding him, Revenant, Warrior, and Diamond keeping their distance. He looked down to see Iron Man's open hand, Repulsor activated.

"Keep," Crimson panted, pushing Iron Man's arm away, "that thing... away from me."

"Your welcome," Iron Man said sarcastically.

Crimson took one final deep breath before speaking to everyone.

"I'm sorry," he addressed hos audience, "I should've told you that he would do something like this. I was just so focused on saving my sister," he then addressed the other Spiders exclusively, "I can't lead you. I'm too emotionally invested in this. It clouded my judgement once already... who's to say it won't happen again?"

"That's exactly why we need you to lead us," Warrior spoke up, "Your determination will lead us to him faster. If a trail goes cold, you're the only one who can find a new one. You know him, you'll find him and just like you said."

"He's waiting for me," Crimson sighed. He considered his next move carefully, looking up at the Statue, which was now being repaired by some of the other Avengers as well as Damage Control, then down at the busted Doom-bot, which was still where he left it, and got an idea, "the Embassy."

"The Latverian Embassy?" Cap asked.

"If anyone knows where Fanatic is, it's the man supplying him with his foot soldiers," Crimson explained, "He's at the Embassy, right?" Cap nodded and Crimson turned to the other Spiders, "I think it's time we paid Doctor Doom a visit."

 **...**

 **Please share your thoughts on this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

The Spiders hung around in the back of the Quinjet while the Avengers took them to the Latverian Embassy. Crimson knew Doom would be there because while he was a villain, he was also a diplomat, and had duties to fill in that role as well.

Crimson looked around at his teammates. Revenant looked like he was asleep, but being a former Klyntar host himself, Crimson knew it was just a ruse so Revenant could have a private conversation with his partner. Warrior was buffing out small dings in her armor, which she must have received from falling debris back on Liberty Island, or maybe even further back, when the two fought in the Sanctum. Diamond was trying get a glimpse at the Avengers. Now that they were out of danger, Crimson had a chance to assess the other Spiders, and it was obvious that Diamond had been through far less than the others, despite them being pretty close in age. Crimson decided that now was the most opportune time to ask the "big" question.

"Why become a Spider?" Crimson directed the question to Diamond, "You have no powers to speak of."

Revenant and Warrior looked at him, then to Diamond after they realized who he was speaking to.

"Well," Diamond thought for a moment, trying to figure out the right words, "I _do_ have powers, they just kind of come and go."

"What do you mean?" Warrior asked, her curiosity peaked.

"The truth is, I got my powers from a blood transfusion with Spider Girl, but they don't really stick around often."

"So you do have a personal stake in this," Crimson muttered before speaking up, "What you're describing is Mixed Compatibility. It's exceedingly rare on Earth, but very common on other planets."

"How do you know?" Revenant asked.

"Because I was in the Kree-Skrull War for two years. I've seen things." Revenant waited for further explanation, but Crimson went back to the original topic, "Mixed Compatibility means that you can be compatible with someone one moment, and not be the next. In your case, for the most part, Spider Girl's blood is assimilated to yours, performing all the same functions, but on rare occasions, I would guess once every two weeks or so, the fragments of her blood within you will, let's say awaken, and you'll have all of her abilities for a short time. This just begs one question, how long ago was your last "episode"?"

"We're here," Captain America called back, preventing Diamond from answering, "good luck."

The back hatch opened and Crimson jumped out onto the street just outside the Embassy's gate, followed by Revenant and Warrior, Diamond pulling up the rear. Crimson pushed the gate open and stepped onto the Latverian soil. The others followed behind him keeping their guards up. Crimson didn't bother. He knew that so long as he didn't provoke Doom, he would be safe, as any action against him would lead to war. Crimson looked up to see Doom watching them from the window. As they approached the doors, they opened on their own. Crimson just kept moving, knowing full well that Doom would take advantage of any hesitation he showed.

"Stay close, remain calm," Crimson ordered the others, "he won't attack us if we don't attack him."

"You have experience fighting him?" Warrior asked.

"Never face to face," Crimson admitted, "I just hope my scuffle with Magneto has prepared me for this."

" _You_ fought Magneto?" Diamond asked.

"Let's just say I'm not welcome within ten nautical miles of Genosha and leave it at that."

They entered the main hall, where Doom waited for them.

"Crimson Web," Doom called, "we meet at last. What business do you have with Doom?"

"A mutual friend of ours; the Fanatic. Where is he?"

"You waste your time, any business between him and Latveria ceased long ago."

"A Doombot on Liberty Island says otherwise," Revenant called.

"Easy," Crimson held up a hand, signalling for him to back off, "What my friend is trying to say is that some of your technology is still finding its way into his hands. If you're not giving it to him, who is?"

"If that knowledge were known, the thief would have already felt the wrath of Doom."

"Right then, thank you for your time. We'll be going then."

The group turned and left the way they came.

"Warrior?" Crimson asked as soon as the doors closed behind them.

"Third tapestry on the right," she stated calmly.

"Right, Revenant, a little camo for the ladies?"

"On it." Revenant placed a hand on each girls sharing enough of his Symbiote to darken their suits, but little else.

The group the darted through the tapestry, sticking to the shadows, and snuck through the lower levels until they found an underground dock. Crimson scanned the room until he found what he was looking for. The cargo manifest. The ship was being loaded with several dozens of shipping crates loaded with Doombots. Their destination, a moving island, clearly artificial. Crimson thought for a moment before realizing what this meant. He had finally discovered the Fanatic's base. The only question remaining was how to get there. He looked over to the shipping crates and realized how obvious the solution was. He booked it to the shipping crates, making sure the others saw him and caught on, and leapt inside one as it closed. Knowing Doom, the operation was bound to be automated. And if Doom already knew what they were up to, well, who would he be to prevent a reunion the Fanatic was looking forward to? Crimson felt the crate shake as a crane lifted it up, then a metallic clang signalled that it had been placed on the ship. Several more clangs sounded before the ship eventually started moving. Crimson waited a few minutes before kicking the doors off their hinges. He then checked each crate to find his teammates.

"Took you long enough," Revenant said when he finally opened the right one, "are you sure this is gonna work."

"It better," Crimson said as he helped Diamond, who didn't seem to have her sea legs, "we all have something riding on this."

"So what now?" Warrior asked.

"Now? All we can do is wait," Crimson looked out to the open waters, "enjoy the view while you can. It won't be long before we have to hide below deck."

Warrior heeded his words, joining him at the rail. The others soon followed and the four Spiders looked at the sunset along the shimmering horizon. Crimson didn't know about the others, but he intended to take this in as much as he could. He had an ominous feeling that he wouldn't live to see sunrise.


End file.
